What Pregnant Moms Eat Is Related To Obesity In Adolescence: Study

When a woman is pregnant, her eating habits may indicate her unborn fetus' risk of obesity when the child becomes an adolescent.

Experts from the University of Glasgow disclose that fatter fetuses tend to become obese when they are adolescents. Analyzing blood samples from umbilical cords and children made researchers aware that the markers leptin and adiponectin can indicate how much fat a child has, along with later in life too.

"Birthweight was positively associated with fat mass, waist circumference and body mass index at age 9 and 17," said Joy Simpson, lead study investigator and clinical research fellow maternal and reproductive health at the University of Glasgow, U.K.

"Fetal overnutrition may facilitate fetal growth and fat accretion, as determined by cord leptin and birthweight, and may program greater adiposity in the child that extends into childhood and adolescence," added Simpson.

Gathering data from 5,011 mothers and children in Britain, researchers assessed blood cord markers. They found that they could link leptin and adiponectin in the cord-blood when a baby was born, to more fat collected by children between 9 and 17 years.

The findings hold true even when they indicated lifestyle factors such as the mother's weight during pregnancy. More leptin in cord-blood could show more fat mass, waist circumference and body mass index between 9 and 17 years. Still, the relationship between leptin and fat mass dropped at 17 years, when cord leptin got connected to fat mass, waist circumference, and body mass index.

Cord blood adiponectin was also linked to greater fat mass and waist circumference, however, no link was discovered at the age of 9 years.

"This work highlights the importance of optimizing maternal health before and during pregnancy to improve offspring health and limit the translation of greater adiposity onto future generations," said Simpson.

The recent study  will be presented at the annual Endocrine Society meeting in Boston, Mass., from April 1-4, 2016.